Start of the Pennine 100

Monday 13 February 2012

Running in the park


A couple of weekends ago I ran my first Parkrun event at Cutteslowe Park in Oxford - http://www.parkrun.org.uk/oxford/home.

Almost 80 runners turned up for the three lap course and while it will never net you a PB, it allows you to have a good ‘gallop’ as my friend Kevin would say. The volunteers were very friendly and helpful and everyone was welcoming in a relaxed (yet competitive) way!

On the multi-terrain course, I did better than I had expected running a time of 20:34, coming in 8th overall and 2nd vet 45-49 (the first vet was the overall fastest on the day).

The Parkrun would make a good regular ‘sharpener’ for race preparation and I would highly recommend giving it a go.

Coast to Coast bike ride with a difference (that’s across America)





I am currently helping an ex-American soldier Tom Von Kaenel prepare for an epic charity bike ride across America. Tom was badly injured while cycling in the Pyrenees in Sept 2010 and was helped by both British and American solders and medical staff who saved his life and so to say thank you he has decided to do a cycle ride to raise some money for veterans of both the UK and US military. Despite still suffering from the after-effects of his accident, Tom is intending to ride from Brize Norton airbase in Oxfordshire on the 21st April to Heathrow and then from the West to East coast of America starting in Seattle, Washington and finishing in Washington DC on 4th July. Tom will then fly back to the UK on 6 July, riding through London back to Brize Norton arriving on 8 July – a staggering total of 4,200 miles.

Tom is hoping to raise £5,000,000 from his endeavours and you can find out more about his challenge at: www.sea2sea.org. Alternatively Tom can be contacted on: tvk@sea2sea.org; twitter: Sea2Sea1; facebook: Sea2Sea.

Training Plan

Week M T W TH F S SU
1 Rest 6-10 miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 90-minute run 3-hour run (or about 18 miles)
2 Rest 6-10 Miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 90-minute run 3-hour run
3 Rest 6-10 miles, including 2x2 miles at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP (5:00) Rest 2-hour run 3.5-hour run (or about 20 miles)
4 Rest 5-8 miles, including 3x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 6 miles, middle 2 at MP Rest 1.5-hour run 2-hour run
5 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 3.5- to 4-hour run (or about 20-24 miles) 3-hour run
6 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 3.5- to 4-hour run 3-hour run
7 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 3.5- to 4-hour run 3-hour run, last hour at MP
8 Rest 9 miles, including 3x2 miles at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 2-hour run 2.5-hour run
9 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 miles at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 3.5-hour run, last hour at MP
10 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 miles at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 3.5-hour run, last hour at MP
11 Rest 9 miles, including 3x2 miles at HMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 2.5-hour run 3-hour run
12 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 5-hour run (or about 27-29 miles)
13 Rest 9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 4-hour run 5-hour run
14 Rest 9 miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP Easy 5-mile jog 9 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 2-hour run 2-hour run
15 Rest 7 miles, including 3x1 mile at MP Easy 5-mile jog 7 miles, middle 3 at MP Rest 1.5-hour run Easy 1-hour jog
16 Rest 6 miles, middle 3 at HMP Easy 5-mile jog Easy 3-mile jog Rest: Stay off your feet 50-mile race Rest. (Duh.)

Key:(MP) Marathon Pace: the pace/effort you can hold in a marathon
(HMP) Half-Marathon Pace: the per-mile average of your best half-marathon
(TMP) 10-Mile Pace: the per-mile pace of your fastest 10-miler
Recovery for HMP/TMP: Jog slowly until you feel fresh enough to start the next repetition.